Method and apparatus for packaging beverages



Sept. 14, 1943. R. .J. STEWART METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGINGBEVERAGEE Filed Dec. 19, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 14, 1943.

R. J. STEWART 2,329,304

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BEVERAGES Filed Dec. 19, 1939 2Sheets-Sheet 2 i 4 7 63 A II IL 4% W 5/ 2 b; Ba5e;%d .'iezwarif.

the tapping mechanism 2|;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a tapping mechanism.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 6 -5 of Figure 5, andI Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 1-1 of Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 1, the fillingrnachine there illustrated isoffwellgknowntypeoomprislng a stationary table It having its inner edgeI l of arcuate form and a rotating filling table I! hav 12,329,304 1 I vv H surrounds the upper portion of sleeve 21, this portion of the sleevepreferably beingvreduced in diameter. The upper end of spring 3| issecured to the clamp 28 and the lower end is secured'to the sleeve 21.The sleeve'21 includes a radially projecting portion 33 which is splitas shown to re'ceive atapping arm 32, Due to o the splitxformation ofthe;projecting portion of ing its forward periphery'positioned closelyad in the usual manner.

jacent the arcuate edge I I of the stationarytable The filling tablelllis: provided adjacent its periphery with a'pluralityi of bottlesupporting platforms l3, each having s V I a filling head l4 above thesame. The stationary v table includes a means to position bottles uponthe bottle supporting platforms 13 of the filling tableduring therotation of the latterand w also includes a transfer dial l5 whichremoves the bottlefrom each platform l3 and transfers it. across the,upper surface 1 0a of the, stationary table tothe capping mechanism:l6'. 'Fromgthe capping mechanism the bottle moves to the usualstraight'line conveyor, I1 which, conducts; the p bottlefromthemachinag' The stationary table hasua guide pl'ate flflsuperimposed thereon, the edges .'Of the; guide -plate adjacent the;transfer dial :I.5 'an'drithe crowning mechanism-IGzJbeing ofarcuateiout line so' as to guide containers. i'moving. insthe pocketeddials of these mechanisms: As is "usual,

a skirt [9 depends from such edge's'of .thewguide 7 plate toward thesurface Illa of the stationary table; The guide plate -I 8 includes aportion projecting outwardly over the bottle supporting platforms andbeneath theoutwardly projecting container engaging arms providedon 1these platforms as disclosed: in the divisional application I of RobertJ'. Stewart'an'd Wiltie tIJGladfelten Serial No. 128,300, filed February27, 1937, for

Fillin machine. 1 r r .7 a t The'fillingvmachine illustrated in Figure.1 is provided with1twotapping mechanisms and jacent the transfer dial15 so that it will: my a container after the latter hasbeerr placed uponthe stationary table l0 and is engaged by the transfer'dial. As will besubsequently ieitplained',

- in a' filling machine of the type disclosed, eac h container isbodily" rotated SubstantiallylSQ "dey grees during its movement from thefilling tab1e totthestationary' table and the two tapping mechanismsareso: located with respect to each other that the second tappingmechanismj-38'will tap the "container at a point circurn'ferentiall'y"spaced from the pointat whichjit was rapp d I The tapping"*mechanism"2| isf preferably mounted atthe inner' enact a valve trip supporting armandas shownfin'Figures 5ifand 6 tier 26 formed thereon at apoint'spacedfrom its upper end and a'slee've 21 is rotatably' mountedupon rod 24 above the shoulder, preferablywith an anti-friction elementpositioned -between the lower end of the sleeve and the shoulder."Above.

' the upper endof the sleeve a clamp 28 is secured to the-arm, the clampbeing of split-form'ar d including a bolt 29 so thatits positioncircunir i ferentia-llylof the rod 24 may be adjusted. A nut 30 bearsupon the clamp 28. A coil spring 3| The tapping mechanism '38 ismount'edad comprises a hol-lowfbase portion" '23 having a". verticalrod24; clampedlthereinby afbolt 25 so -thatthe7rod maybevertically adjustedwith respect torthe base portion. Therod has a shoulthe followingbottlea,r' it v ;;As shown in:,Figures 1,12 and:4, the"tapping" :mechanism 38includes'a bracket or base por ftion 40 securedto the upper'slsurfaceiofthe guide plate l8 onjthestationaryfitable* l fand which has ahOLlSingfll'GXtGi'ldliIg thGIOIIOmt -tion of the post hasca'sleevenrotatalily mount- --ed-thereon and a coil spring surrounds the f upper"and reduced portion'of the sleevewith and the lower and :49 of.tliepost. 5 fThe tapping armi5l"extendsothrougha slot 58" in a clockwisedirection so the sleeve; the position of the tapping arm 32 positionbyabolt, as'shown. v

It will, be observed from Figure therein may beadjustedand heldin'adjusted' the filling table I2 so that as a bottle or other gcontainer B comes into contact with the tapping arm 32 it will swing thelatterin a counterclockwise direction against the action of the coilspring 3|. After that bottle has moved past the endof'the arm 32; thelatter will move backwardly v to impartatap jtoythexsuccee'ding bottleand: 1 i the latter, in turn 'willjswing'the. arm 32 siniia readiness't' ta-p counter-clockwise direction "in including .a downwardly facingrecess' 4'2 'pro- .videdcwith tan aperturein which a downwa'r'dlv-extendingpostj tf.iszmounted,"post44 bein'g'.curedagainstrotationiinthezapertureby niea s Of a nut '45, engaging itsupper and threaded end. a :The ipqst. M issslightly' enlarged-indiameter as at 46 immediately below 'the -lower sur-p faceof therecessed portion and-carries ajworm v wheel 4'! which is separated by aiwasherflla from the shoulder 'at the uppervend of-the larger.

and lower portion of the posti The lower porits upper end secured to the"worm wheelll in the dependihg'skirt 19 of the "guide'lplate* l8 and thetension exerted 'uponthe springywill nor- -ma-lly urge the tapping. armin a couhter cl dck' wise direction so that'dt'wlllcontact?withthe .end5901 slot 58 nearest therotary filling "table-I I2.TWhen a container Bcontacts'with' the tapfr be swung backwardly j ping'arm 5| the latterwill i that' its end win-fie substantially flush with the skirt l9 and,when the container-hasm'oved clearbf the-end"of. V

the tapping'arm the latter will swin acliw ard lyIfunder: the forceorthe spring-tann n "the vfollowingcontainer." 7

Due, to the fact th'atthe nuing tabl rot t ing with respect to thestationary table; each container will be rotated substantially "defgreesduring its transfer from position B? o'n 'a bottle supporting platform]to position 3 on the stationary tablepsu ch rotation of course being dueto the fact thatone portion of: the base 7 of the container will contactwith the stationary 'table while the remaining portion is still bear 1that the tapping arm 32 will normally be in a' position extendingsubstantially radially with respect to Zi niihe be eeser e ti r -t i v en-.m ong th r su m t" a e- N nc 11 l ear meve trtheim t atsw the m a m.1str kat ee nt n aWi emme eebeb etiel ywh r ardam; the: fl ainenx JTPSP r QW -WfW- harem; at t -ei e ram n a m r e tetheqcm ai ew b we ame cus idioxiiifl q 4 that r asea W n. w ab h ra pin a m strike thecontainer from a point directly insid c nt. point n t o 'nlh womai 2diber ed- -mm heebwe a e to; es lti n to exactly the; de ired, exte t; Bau of fthis each container fjwilkreceiverflw tap- ;ping efiect;regard-less of'whether the 1, thickness ofthe wall may vary.

:handlzing, glasszlcontainers or other ontainers which may vary inthickness, thetwo adm nist n ioemwan tapping to eliminate asharpblowgi'aicourse,

concurrently obtained with containers uhaving theirswall's non-uniform.

prdinari-ly, gthe; tapper '2 I- will" be: maintained .jset; toastrilreaflxe'd blow :and the rapper Qt-will tapping devices 2| and 38 will beset to impart the propertotal blow or vibration to acontainer of minimumthickness at diametrically opposite points. one of these points or isof'proper, diameter at both points, the total tappingefiect will besufficientto cause' foam to rise to apoint very slightly above themouthjofthe container. A container which is thin at .both points wouldTherefore, if the container is thick at theoretically receive a slightlymorefo'rcible tapping than is desired but such a glass container doesnot occur. That is, each glass container includes. a fixed amount of"glass distributed throughout its sidewalls and since the amount of glassis constant, the walls of the container will never be thinthroughout itsentire diam-' eter but-will either be' of average .thi-ckness throughoutthe' circumference or thicker at one pointthan at another. As 'a'result,and as stated above, by tapping the container at preferablydiametrically spaced points the total tapping force will be proper ifthe two tapping devices are each set to strike the proper blow needed toproperly agitate a container which is throughoutits diameter. 1 g

In order that the tapping device 38 which is a spaced inwardly from thefront edge of the machine may be conveniently adjusted, a worm gear .53is journaled in the housing 44 so that it will mesh with the worm wheel'41, the forward end of the shaft 54 of theworm gear being connected bya universal joint 55 to-a rod 56 extending to the front-edge of themachine and thin supported in brackets upon the upper surface of theguideplate I8. The rod 56 is provided with a handle 51 at its forwardend so'that it maybe rotated to adjust the position of the worm wheel53'and thereby adjust the tension upon; the coil spring 50. a thehousing and the adjusting shaft can be mounted at'the desired angle uponfilling machines of various types and sizes so that the Due to theuniversal connection;

tapping arm will always be properly positioned with respect to variouscontainers and the operating handle 51 will be at a convenient anglewith respect to the machine. The tapping mechanism 2|, being immediatelyadjacent the side of the machine, can be convenientlyadjusted byadjusting the bracket28. I g I The multiple tapping is also particularlyefiicient' with containersof position" of the; clamping;

Q Qthe present invention such type as to have their wtrlls-ofuniformthick; ness throughout their diameter, ,Ias is the case withmetalcontainers.

When operating [upon 3 i such containers the two arms'would have thetension of their springs adjusted so as to administer beam-lastedasmdesired forwa' particularrung-of i bottles orbs-averages". gTheconstruction lotftapper' 48m permit: to befinelyaadjustable:overa wide Yrange, as well as the accessibility of its operating w handle enables itto be readily adjusted to cooperate with tapper' 2| to give exactlythedesired total tapping efiect.

It willbe understood that, instead of the tap:

pers disclosed herein and by means of which an advance bottleactuatesthe tapper so'that a succeeding bottlewill be struck, the present mechaynism may be constructed with tapping armsof the type shown in the Fisherpatent, wherein the same bottle which actuates the; tapper receives" thetapping blow.

The terminology employed in the specification I is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limir i, invention being deiined tation, thescope of the in the claims.

I claim:

1. The method of packaging. beverages containing carbon dioxide whichcomprises partially filling a container with the beverage in mamas.phere' containing air whereby the space in the; container above thebeverage will contain am,

vibrating a pluralityoi substantially diametri cally opposed portions ofthe container 'tolcause a portion of thecarbon dioxide to be liberatedand thereby displace at least a part of the air in the container abovethe liquid,andthen sealing the container. r I

2. Incombination, means to partially fill a container with a beveragecontaining carbon di-.

oxide and in an atmosphere containing air whereby the space above thebeverage will contain air,

closure-applying means, means for moving the container from said fillingmeansto said closure applying means, and means for vibrating thecontainer at two substantially diametrically: opposed portions thereofduring such movement'to cause a portion of the carbon dioxide tobe'liberated and thereby displace at least apart of the airin thecontainer above the liquid. I

3. In combination; closure applying" means, means topartially fill acontainerwith a beve erage containing carbon dioxideand'in an atmos-'phere containing air whereby, the space above the beverage will containair and for moving the container to said closure applying means whilebodily rotating the container about, its vertical axis, and a pair ofmeans for vibrating the container during, such travel;'said vibratingvmeansi being positioned at such pointsin'the linear path of travel ofthe container as to contact-with'two circumferentially spaced portionsof the container to cause a portion of the carbon dioxide'tobealiberated and-therebydisplace at "leasta part of ,the air-in thecontainer above the beverage.

4. In combination, means to partially fill a con-1 tainer with abeverage containing carbon dioxide .andin an atmosphere containing airwhereby the at least a part '5. In a fillingmachine; the combinationofarotating fillingtable, a stationary table, means to move containers fromthefilling 7 table and 7 across the stationary table a guide memberpar-' tially encircling said last-named means, said plateincluding adepending skirt extending along- I side the path of the containers,said-skirt having containers. I 6. In' combination, means to partiallyfill a to extend through said slot into' the pathof the container with abeverage containing] carbon dl-,

" oxide and in an atmosphere 'containingair' where-- by thespace abovethe beverage will ontain alr, "means to rotatetheeontalnereon-itsvertleal axis,

and means to impart vibrations to two substantially diametricallyopposed-points {of the con- -tainer during suchrotatmn to cause aportion of the carbon dioxide to liberated and thereby displace at leastaf 'par't of the air in the container above the beverage, andmeans toseal the container.

OBERT J. S EWART,

a longitudinally extending slot therein; and a spring tensioned .tapplngarm pivotally'mounted

